Our new Indie Games subforum is now open for business in G&T. Go and check it out, you might land a code for a free game. If you're developing an indie game and want to post about it, follow these directions. If you don't, he'll break your legs! Hahaha! Seriously though.

Our rules have been updated and given their own forum. Go and look at them! They are nice, and there may be new ones that you didn't know about! Hooray for rules! Hooray for The System! Hooray for Conforming!

[Twilight Imperium] Game 5 - Round 8: Game Over!

Over three thousand years ago, the Lazax ruled the galaxy. But after many millennia of control, the Lazax grew complacent with their position over the other races. The six great races of Sol, Hylar, N'orr, Hacan, Letnev, and Xxcha began to chafe under the rule of the Lazax Empire. And so when a trade dispute over the Quann wormhole resulted in the Sol armada acting against the Letnev, a flame spread like wildfire throughout the galaxy, igniting a civil war between races that had only tenuously been held back by the Lazax rule. In the centuries that followed, the Twilight War eradicated the Lazax race and turned back thousands of years of progress. The great races retreated to their home planets to rebuild, and once the Galactic Council was once again able to meet, it was a shadow of its former strength. And now, thousands of years later, after the long era of the Dark Years, the time is right for a new race to step up and become the rulers of the galaxy, and the guiding hand for all races within its domain.

Twilight Imperium is a boardgame of galactic empire-building on a large scale, often described as a 4X game given physical form. Players build ships, conquer planets, research technology, and engage in trade and diplomacy, all in the pursuit of earning victory points toward claiming the Imperial Throne of Mecatol Rex and rule over the entire galaxy. For this forum game, I am planning on including the following options from the game's two expansions, including one minor house rule:

There are a lot of rules to read through, and the summary I am putting into these opening posts will not be entirely comprehensive. I recommend reading through the Walkthrough/Tutorial linked above for starters and as a good review of the base game for veterans. You might also want to look at previous games played on the forum for an idea of the flow of the game.

In general, actions will be noted in bold dodgerblue, bold limegreen, and bold red: see the sections below for specific formatting. Alternatively, players may post actions in bold using their race's color. Except for conversations between teammates and those initiated by the host, all inter-player conversation must be done in-thread. If you have need for clarifications, feel free to ask in bold darkorange.

Game Objectives

Spoiler:

In order to claim the Imperial Throne of Mecatol Rex, players must accumulate 9 victory points (VP). VP are earned by fulfilling Objective cards: at the start of the game, each player has a hidden Secret Objective that only they may fulfill; over the course of the game, cards will be revealed from the Public Objective deck that all players may fulfill. As soon as any player has completed 9 VP worth of Objectives, the game ends immediately, even if another player could have gained more VP later in the round.

The Public Objective deck is comprised of 6 Stage I cards and 5 Stage II cards. Among the Stage II cards is "Imperium Rex", which acts as a bit of a game clock: if it is revealed, the game ends immediately and the player with the most VPs wins. In case of a tie, ties are broken in order by number of Objective Cards fulfilled, number of planets controlled, number of reserve Command Counters, and number of allocated Command Counters. If none of these measures break the tie, then the game ends in a draw.

Races and Special Abilities

Spoiler:

Six races out of seventeen total have been randomly selected for play:

Universities of Jol-Nar: The Hylar are a coalition of aquatic races, distinguished by their physical frailty and their peerless intellect. Before the Twilight War, their technology was ubiquitous; the remnants of their technological knowledge after the war has carried them through the long Dark Years and they are now ready to lead.

When executing the Secondary Ability of the Technology Strategy, you may execute both its Primary Ability and the Secondary Ability.

You may spend a Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation to immediately re-roll any of your die rolls.

Racial Technology 1: Spatial Conduit Network (Cost: +6) - Once per turn when moving, you may move ships from one system you control to any other system you control as if the systems were adjacent. Your ships using this movement must end their movement in a system you control.

The Naalu Collective: The Naalu are a race of serpentine beings blessed with the gift of telepathy. This talent has driven the direction of their technological progress, and the nature of their abilities has inspired awe and fear among the other races of the galaxy. Words are seldom used between Naalu, and all are prepared to do all under their power to bring the galaxy under their ideals of beauty and order.

The L1z1x Mindnet: Though the Lazax were thought to have been eradicated in the Twilight Wars, a small colony escaped Mecatol Rex to a remote world. In order to survive, the survivors integrated technology into their bodies, greatly changing their form. The galaxy now waits to see whether the L1z1x has maintained the old wisdom of their ancestors, or if they have become twisted and dark.

The Ghosts of Creuss: The Ghosts of Creuss are extradimensional beings comprised of mysterious energy. While the region where they dwell has long been known for strange events and mysterious disappearances, it has only been recently that the Ghosts have shown themselves. Why they have finally decided to make their presence known, and what their objectives in this dimension are, only they know.

You may treat "A" and "B" Wormhole systems as if they were adjacent to each other.

You may always use Wormholes, regardless of other game effects or restrictions.

Other players may not use "A" or "B" Wormholes to travel into a system you control.

Racial Technology 1: Dimensional Splicer (Cost: +3) - At the start of a battle in a system containing a Wormhole and at least 1 of your ships, you may assign 1 hit to 1 enemy ship of your choice.

Racial Technology 2: Slave Wormhole Generator (Cost: +5) - At the start of each Status Phase, you may place (or move) your extra "A" or "B" Wormhole tokens into any empty or friendly non-Home Systems.

Flagship: Hil Colish (Cost: 10) - Battle 4, Movement 1, Capacity 3, Sustain Damage - You may treat this ship’s system as if it had a "D" Wormhole in it. When this ship is moving, treat its destination system as if it had the Wormhole.

The Embers of Muaat: The Gashlai are a race of beings encased in flames, requiring armored suits in order to survive and interact with outside worlds. They were once slaves to the Jol-Nar and charged with the production of the prototype War Sun, earning their freedom in a revolt in the chaos of the Twilight Wars. Now they seek a higher destiny - rulers of the galaxy atop the Imperial Throne.

Spoiler:

Starting Units: 4 Ground Forces, 2 Fighters, 1 War Sun, 1 Space Dock

Starting Technologies: Enviro Compensator, Sarween Tools, War Sun

Trade Contracts: 2, 2

Your War Suns have a base movement of 1; this improves to 2 when you acquire the Deep Space Cannon technology.

As an Action, you may spend one Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation Area to place 2 free Fighters or 1 free Destroyer in any one System containing one of your War Suns or Space Docks.

Your ships may move through, but may not end their movement in, Supernova systems.

Racial Technology 2: Nova Seed (Cost: +3) - As an action, you may remove this card from the game to replace a system you control with a Supernova system tile. This may not be used on Mecatol Rex, a Home System, or adjacent to a red-bordered system.

The Yin Brotherhood: The Yin race is a species of clones. Though cloning was banned by the Lazax, the deaths of the sons and wife of the Sol scientist Darien to Greyfire disease caused him to pursue the craft singlemindedly. His cloned sons have continued Darien's work to near perfection, though they are all male, and most scarred by the original disease. To honor Darien, the Yin now look towards the Imperial throne...

At the start of the game, players draw random races, which are then revealed. In addition to starting units and technology, players receive 1 Secret Objective and 2 Political Cards, and allocate 2 Command Counters to Strategy Allocation, 3 counters to Fleet Supply, and 3 counters to Command Pool. Players each receive five system tiles for creation of the game map. Mecatol Rex is set at the center, with each player's home systems sitting on the third ring directly outward. Starting from the first player and proceeding in a snake draft (first to last, last to first, etc.), each player places a system title from their hand with the following restrictions:

Each ring must be filled completely before moving on to the next, starting from the center and moving outwards.

Special systems with red borders may not be placed adjacent to one another.

If a player has placed a system containing no planets, then a system containing at least one planet must be placed on their next turn.

Should a player be unable to place a system according to these rules, their hand of systems is revealed so that they may place a system while breaking the normal rules. Once the game map has been created, players place their starting units and Custodians of Mecatol Rex tokens are placed on Mecatol Rex (see Odds and Ends). The game begins with the first Strategy Phase.

General Game Flow

Spoiler:

The game is played over a number of rounds, typically 5-10 in total. Each round is divided into three parts: the Strategy Phase, the Action Phase, and the Status Phase. In the Strategy Phase, players select Strategy Cards: this determines the special action that player may take during the round as well as play order. The bulk of activity takes place in the Action Phase: here players may deploy abilities specified by their choice of Strategy Card, activate systems for unit movement, space combat, invasion of planets, building of new units, or to play certain action cards. Once everybody has passed their turns in the Action Phase, the Status Phase allows for players to score victory points by claiming objectives and refreshes the board setup for the next round of play.

Strategy Phase

Spoiler:

In the Strategy Phase, players select Strategy Cards for the round. Each Strategy Card has a special ability and determines play order in the Action Phase. Starting from the player with the Speaker token and moving clockwise, each player will choose a card; each card may be selected by at most one player. To select a Strategy Card, note your selection in bold dodgerblue. Example:

I select the (1) Leadership Strategy Card.

At the end of the Strategy Phase, there will be two unselected Strategy Cards. A Bonus counter will be added to each card as incentive for selection in future rounds. When a player selects a Strategy Card with a Bonus counter, they immediately exchange each counter for either a Trade Good or Command Counter.

Action Phase

Spoiler:

Starting with the player with the lowest-numbered Strategy Card and moving up in number, players take actions sequentially until all players have passed. There are four different types of actions that players can perform: the Strategic Action, Tactical Action, Transfer Action, and using Action Cards that are played as actions. Details about the first three actions are contained in the following sections. The fourth is straightforward: the acting player declares the card they wish to play in bold dodgerblue, noting its effects. For expediency in the forum game environment, players do not need to declare use of the Action Card, wait for others to declare, and then actually play the card. (Please note that the two-step declare-then-play protocol still applies for other phases of the game, including the Strategy Phase, Status Phase, and battles.) Example:

I play an Action Card: Alien Technology.
I exhaust Arnor (2R) and Saudor (2R) to gain the technology Sarween Tools.

If a player does not wish to make any more actions during the round, they may pass their turn. Players must use the Strategic Action specified on their Strategy Card before ending their turn for the round. Players who have passed their turn will still be able to participate in secondary abilities from other players’ Strategic Actions, but take no further actions in the Action Phase. Players may pass their turn in bold red. Example:

Posts

With a Strategic Action, players activate the ability specified on their chosen Strategy Card. After executing the primary ability, all other players, including players who have already passed their turn, will have a chance to make use of the secondary ability listed on the card by spending a Command Counter from their Strategy Allocation. Normally, players make their choices clockwise from the primary player, but for the purposes of the forum game environment, players may choose to pass or play on a secondary ability out of order if they wish. Text of each card and a short explanation and example for each follow below. Generally, use of a Strategy Card ability is noted in bold dodgerblue. Usage example:

I activate the primary ability...I PLAY the secondary ability...I PASS on the secondary ability.

(1) Leadership

Spoiler:

Primary Ability: Take Charge Receive 3 Command Counters from your reinforcements. You may then immediately use this card's secondary ability.Secondary Ability: Masterful Tactician You may spend influence to purchase up to 3 Command Counters from your reinforcements. You receive 1 Command Counter for every 2 influence you spend.

Notes: Unlike other Strategy Cards, there is no need to spend a Strategy Allocation counter to use this card’s secondary ability. Usage examples:

I activate the primary ability of the (1) Leadership Strategy Card and exhaust Mellon (2I), placing 1 counter into Strategy Allocation, 1 into Fleet Supply, and 2 into Command Pool.

I PLAY the secondary ability, exhausting Dal Bootha (2I) to place 1 Command Counter into my Command Pool.

(2) Diplomacy II

Spoiler:

Primary Ability: Demilitarized Zone Choose either a) or b):
a) Choose one system containing a planet you control. Each opponent must place one of his Command Counters into the system from his reinforcements.
b) Execute the secondary ability of this card without paying a Command Counter or any influence.Secondary Ability: Peaceful Annexation Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area and 3 Influence to claim an empty planet adjacent to a system you control. Place your Command Marker on the planet.

Notes: The a) side of the primary ability protects a system from interference by other players; if they have no counters in their reserves they must take one from their race sheet if possible. Players may not use the secondary ability to take control of Mecatol Rex or a planet that was just annexed by another player using this ability during the same activation. Usage examples:

I activate the primary ability of the (2) Diplomacy II Strategy Card, choosing option a) and targeting the Abyz-Fria system.

I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter and exhausting Torkan (3I) to annex Vefut II.

(3) Assembly

Spoiler:

Primary Ability: Senate Draw 1 Political Card and 2 Action Cards. Then choose either a) or b):
a) Claim the Speaker token and choose one other player to play a Political Card and resolve its agenda. You may not choose this option if you are already the Speaker.
b) Choose one other player to claim the Speaker token. Play a Political Card from your hand and resolve its agenda. You must select a player that is not currently Speaker.Secondary Ability: Morale Boost Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to refresh any number of your Planet Cards with total combined resource and influence of 6 or less.

Notes: If a player selected to play a Political Card has none to play, the top card of the Political Card deck is drawn and resolved instead. After negotiation, players vote on the agenda, starting to the left of the Speaker, with the option to also abstain from a vote. Each player's vote is worth the amount of influence on their unexhausted planets (minimum 1); Trade Goods may not be spent here to increase the power of the vote. The option with the most votes wins, with the Speaker breaking any ties. Usage examples:

I activate the primary ability of the (3) Assembly Strategy Card, choosing option a) to claim the Speaker token and choosing The Universities of Jol-Nar to play a card. (The activating player may wait to receive cards before making a choice)
Selected player under option a): I choose to bring "Ancient Artifact" to a vote., and posting the Political Card text.
Voting: I vote FOR the agenda, I vote AGAINST the agenda., I ELECT <item> for the agenda., I ABSTAIN from the agenda.

I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter to refresh Lodor and Xxehan.

(4) Production

Spoiler:

Primary Ability: Tight Deadlines Immediately build units in one of your systems containing one or more friendly Space Docks, receiving 2 additional resources with which to build, even if you have activated this system already. Building units here does not activate the system.Secondary Ability: Double Efforts Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to immediately build up to 3 units in one of your systems containing one or more friendly Space Docks, even if you have activated this system already. Building units here does not activate the system.

Notes: Players are still limited by the normal production capacity of Space Docks during activation of this card. Usage examples:

I activate the primary ability of the (4) Production Strategy Card, exhausting Fria (2R) to build a Cruiser (2R) and 2 Destroyers (2R) at the Space Dock on Abyz.

I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter and exhausting Lodor (3R) to build a Cruiser (2R) and 2 Fighters (1R) at the Space Dock on Lodor.

(5) Trade II

Spoiler:

Primary Ability: Free Trade Receive 3 Trade Goods or cancel up to 2 trade agreements. Then all players receive Trade Goods from their active trade agreements. Players who are not the active player receive 1 fewer total Trade Goods. Finally, open trade negotiations among all players. You must approve all new trade agreements.

Notes: Each race has two Trade Contracts that they may exchange with others to earn Trade Goods in the Trade Strategy Card, and trade agreements must be made between different races (i.e. you can’t exchange both Contracts with the same race). Negotiation is encouraged when making and approving agreements. There is no secondary ability associated with this Strategy card. Players do not need to declare the Trade Goods they gain, but may do so optionally. Usage examples:

I activate the primary ability of the (5) Trade II Strategy Card, receiving 6 Trade Goods (3 free + 3 from agreements). orI activate the primary ability of the (5) Trade II Strategy Card, breaking the Trade agreement between The Universities of Jol-Nar and The Barony of Letnev. I collect 3 Trade Goods (all from agreements).

When trying to create an agreement: I request the creation of a Trade Agreement between myself [2] and The Xxcha Kingdom [2].
When approving a trade: I approve of the creation of a Trade Agreement between The Xxcha Kingdom [2] and The Federation of Sol [2].

(6) Warfare II

Spoiler:

Primary Ability: High Alert Place the High Alert token in a system. Your ships in the system with the token gain +1 movement and +1 on all combat rolls. If you move any ships from this system, you may move the token with them. Remove the token from the board at the start of the next Status Phase.Secondary Ability: Reinforce Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to move up to two of your ships from unactivated systems into any adjacent systems you control. This does not activate the destination systems.

Notes: The High Alert token does not affect the performance of ground units, nor does it affect pre-combat abilities. Moving ships using the secondary ability does not trigger PDS Fire. Control of a system is defined by control of all planets in the system (if any) and the presence of at least one non-Fighter friendly ship. Usage examples:

I activate the primary ability of the (6) Warfare II Strategy Card, placing the High Alert token in the Abyz-Fria system.

I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter to move a Destroyer from Quann to Qucen'n-Rarron and a Cruiser from Dal Bootha-Xxehan to Qucen'n-Rarron.

(7) Technology II

Spoiler:

Primary Ability: Technological Focus Receive one Technology advance. You may then buy a second Technology advance at the cost of 8 resources. You must have the necessary prerequisites for each Technology.Secondary Ability: Advanced Development Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area and 6 resources to receive one Technology advance (for which you have the necessary prerequisites.

Notes: Common technologies are divided into four categories and organized into a tech tree. (Tech Tree) If purchasing technology, the cost may be reduced by one for each technology specialty icon matching the type of technology you wish to buy on your unexhausted planets. You do not have to exhaust such planets during technology purchasing to gain their bonus. Each race also has two Race-Specific Technologies only they may purchase. These technologies have no prerequisites, are colorless, and incur an additional resource cost to purchase; this includes if the technology is selected for the 'free' technology in the primary ability. Usage examples:

I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter, exhausting Abyz (3R), Fria (2R), and using the Fria Technology specialty to gain "XRD Transporters".

(8) Bureaucracy

Spoiler:

SPECIAL After selecting this Strategy Card, reveal cards from the Objective deck equal to the number of Bonus Counters on this card.Primary Ability: Senatorial Control Receive 1 Command Counter from your reinforcements. Then draw the top two cards from the Objective deck. Place one faceup in the common play area and the other on the top of the deck. You may then immediately claim one public objective that you qualify for.Secondary Ability: New Agendas Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to draw one Political Card and one Action Card.

Notes: If "Imperium Rex" is revealed, whether by the special action or primary ability, the game ends immediately without any further player actions (including qualification for further objectives). A player must control all planets in their home system in order to claim an objective. Usage examples:

I activate the primary ability of the (8) Bureaucracy Strategy Card, placing a Command Counter into Command Pool.
After receiving Objective Cards: I reveal the following Objective Card:, and posting the Objective Card text.[/color][/b]

I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter to draw one Political Card and one Action Card.

Tactical Action

Spoiler:

With a Tactical Action, players may activate a system for movement, invasion, or production. The following steps are taken in a Tactical Action:

Activate a System One counter will be spent from the Command Pool to activate the chosen system.

Movement into the System Ships cannot be moved out of activated systems and cannot pass through systems with non-Fighter enemy ships. Units with carry ability can pick up units at any time during their movement as long as the systems do not contain enemy ships and are not previously activated.

PDS Fire If there are any enemy PDS units in range, play will be paused to allow their owning players the opportunity to decide whether or not to react. The active player may then choose to activate their own PDS units, if any. Hits are scored as in Space Battles (see below) by each player.

Space Battles A Space Battle occurs when ships of different players are in the same system. See section below.

Planetary Landings Units being carried may be landed at this time; they may be split between multiple planets.

Invasion Combat Invasion Combat occurs when units of different players are in the same planet. See section below.

Produce Units Players may exhaust planets and spend trade goods to build units at a previously established Space Dock, or to build a Space Dock if the planet it is being built on has been controlled the entire round. The maximum number of units that may be produced is equal to 2 plus the resource value of the planet housing the Space Dock.

If a planet is taken, either by landing a Ground Force or Mechanized Unit on an empty planet or winning Invasion Combat, the planet card is received in exhausted state. Example:

I spend a Command Pool Counter to activate the Tar'mann system and perform a Tactical Action.
A Carrier with two Fighters and two Ground Forces from Tequ'ran-Torkan and a Cruiser from the Xxcha Home System will be moved in. (If there were PDS in the area, the action would pause for PDS fire. Assuming the system is empty:)I land two Ground Forces onto Tar'mann, taking control of the planet.

Building units: I exhaust Bereg (3R) to build a Cruiser (2R) and two Fighters (1R).

Space Battles and Invasion Combat

Spoiler:

Before a Space Battle, pre-combat Actions and anti-Fighter barrage occur. In Anti-Fighter Barrage, each player rolls two dice for each Destroyer they have in the system. Each hit (roll on d10+modifiers at or above the ship’s combat value) destroys a Fighter in the opponent’s fleet. Once complete, Space Battles are resolved in rounds:

Announce Withdrawals/Retreats Attacker has first option to declare a retreat, followed by the Defender. Players may retreat into an adjacent activated system without enemy ships. Alternatively, they may spend a counter from Strategy Allocation to activate an adjacent empty or friendly system for the purposes of retreat.

Roll Combat Dice Both players simultaneously roll outcomes for all their ships.

Remove Casualties Both players decide what ships to remove from their own fleets; attacker removes first.

Execute Withdrawals/Retreats If there are still ships of both players in the system and a retreat was declared, it is executed now.

Battle rounds continue until a player retreats or only ships of one kind (or fewer) remain in the system. Generally, battles will be conducted via private message, and it is encouraged to have conditional orders in place with me in order to expedite the process. Results will be announced in thread at battle’s completion.

Invasion Combat flows similarly to Space Battles, but without a retreat option. Pre-combat, the attacker has the option of using Planetary Bombardment with his Dreadnoughts and War Suns and the defender may use PDS fire. For Bombardment, ships must be split between planets if there are multiple invasions, and Dreadnoughts may not bombard planets that contain enemy PDS units. PDS units must be on the planet being invaded to be used in PDS fire. For each hit by each player, one Ground Force or Shock Troop is removed. Remaining Ground Forces, Shock Troops, and Mechanized Units fight it out in rounds of rolling combat dice, then removing casualties. If the attacker wins with at least one Ground Force, Shock Troop, or Mechanized Unit remaining, then he gains control of the planet. All enemy Space Dock and PDS units are destroyed, unless the attacker has at least one Shock Troop; in that case, the invader may choose to capture the facilities instead, replacing them with units of his own.

Units

Spoiler:

The number of each type of unit a player may have on the board is limited, with the exception of Ground Forces and Fighters. Even then, there is a maximum number of 'divisions' of each type. Certain units have a Sustain Damage ability that allows them to take one hit without being destroyed. Damaged units are not hampered combat-wise, though a second hit will destroy them. Damaged ships are repaired in the Status Phase.

Space Dock Cost: 4, Max Available: 3. Ground unit, cannot be carried. No combat capabilities, but can support three Fighter units. Builds units; cannot produce units the same turn it is built. If blockaded (in a system with enemy ships), only ground units can be built.

Shock Troops Cost: Special, Max Available: 12 across all players, Combat Value: 5. Ground unit. Can establish control of planets, may take over PDS and Space Dock units after battle. Upgrades from Ground Force when Ground Force rolls a natural 10 in Invasion Combat. Must be present with at least one Ground Force; taken as casualties before Ground Forces.

The Transfer Action bears similarities to the Tactical Action, but can only be used in friendly systems and used only for reorganization of units and production. The following steps are taken in a Transfer Action, with exceptions listed where they differ from the Tactical Action:

Activate Two Systems One counter will come from the Command Pool like in a Tactical Action, the other will come from the reserve tokens. Both systems must be “friendly”, containing at least one friendly unit and no enemy units, and must be adjacent to each other.

Movement Between Systems

PDS Fire

Planetary Landings Units may not be landed on neutral or enemy-controlled planets in the Transfer Action.

Produce Units Units may be produced or a Space Dock may be built at only one of the activated systems.

Example:

I spend a Command Pool Counter to activate the Saudor and Arinam-Meer systems and perform a Transfer Action.
A Carrier with two Fighters and two Ground Forces will move from Saudor to Arinam-Meer; a Cruiser will move from Arinam-Meer to Saudor.
I will land one Ground Force from the Carrier to each of Arinam and Meer.
I will exhaust Saudor (2R) and spend 2 Trade Goods to build a Space Dock on Arinam.

Once all players have passed their turns, the Action Phase ends and the Status Phase begins. In the Status Phase, the following steps are taken in order:

Qualify for Public/Secret Objective Cards Players may qualify for at most one Public Objective Card and one Secret Objective Card per round. A player must control all planets in their home system in order to claim an objective. All players may claim each Public Objective once; players may not claim each other's Secret Objectives.

Repair Damaged Ships

Remove Command Counters Counters are removed from the board and returned to players' reserves.

Refresh Planet Cards Trade stations and certain worlds have Refresh abilities that can be used immediately after refreshing, causing them to become exhausted.

Receive 1 Action Card and 2 Command Counters

Redistribute Command Areas If a player reduces their Fleet Supply, they must make sure their fleet numbers are in compliance with the new number.

Return Strategy Cards Strategy Cards return to the common area for selection in the next Strategy Phase.

Players may also scuttle units during the Status Phase, returning the unit to the reserves. Most steps are automatic; outside of potential Action Card plays and scuttling units, players need only declare how they are redistributing their Command Counters in the Status Phase. Example:

I gain 2 Command Counters, placing one in Strategy Allocation and one in Command Pool., or I gain 2 Command Counters, rearranging my Command Areas to include 2 in Strategy Allocation, 4 in Fleet Supply, and 2 in Command Pool.

Odds and Ends

Spoiler:

At the start of the game, Mecatol Rex is assigned two Custodians of Mecatol Rex tokens. Before any player may establish control over the planet, they must defeat a standing force of 3 Fighters and 2 Ground Forces. The Fighters are immune to Anti-Fighter Barrage, the Ground Forces immune to Bombardment. Each token returns to full strength if not defeated, but when beaten are permanently removed from the game, even if control over Mecatol Rex is later lost.

As described above, Command Counters in the Strategy Allocation area are (generally) used to play the secondary abilities of Strategy Cards, and counters in the Command Pool area are used to activate systems in Tactical and Transfer actions. Command Counters in the Fleet Supply area are not spent, but instead indicate the maximum number of friendly non-Fighter ships that can be supported in a single system at any time. Each player has a maximum of 16 Command Counters available in the game. If a game effect requires the placement of a Counter from the reserves and none is available, the counter must be taken from one of the allocated areas.

Keep in mind that removing all Ground units from a world after establishing control does not relinquish it. Only when an enemy takes over control does ownership transfer.

Certain map hexes have special features. Hexes with matching-lettered wormholes are considered adjacent by movement. Asteroid Field systems are impassable unless a player has the Antimass Deflectors technology; even then, movement may not end in this system. Supernova systems are completely impassable to movement. Nebula systems can be activated, but units may not move through them. Ships defend with a +1 bonus to combat rolls while inside a Nebula, but their movement is reduced to 1 when moving out of a Nebula system. Ion Storms, much like Nebulas, can be activated, but cannot be passed through without stopping. While inside an Ion Storm, ships may not be fired upon by PDS Units, and Fighters do not fire in combat (though they still may be taken as casualties). Gravity Rifts have a chance of destroying any ship that leaves or moves through the system: for each ship a die is rolled and on a 1-5, the ship and any carried units are destroyed.

With the additional components from the expansions, the Trade Good pool is effectively unlimited (88 in total). Trade Goods may be spent at any time as 1 resource or 1 influence, except in voting. Trade Goods are also notable for normally being the only component that may be freely traded between players. Transfers may be performed at any time by noting the action in bold dodgerblue; these are good bargaining chips when making negotiations.

Trade Contracts may be broken unilaterally by a player in the Status Phase if they desire. Contracts are also automatically broken if trade partners engage in a Space Battle or Invasion Combat.

When playing an Action Card outside of simply as an action, a player must first declare that they are making an Action Card play, after which all other players may also declare a play, or pass. If multiple players wish to play cards at the same time, resolution is in play order (which differs in the Strategy Phase, Action Phase, and Status Phase). The exception to Action Card declaration is the play of "Sabotage" cards: these do not need to be declared until they are played reactively to another Action Card being played. To declare the play of a card, note it in bold dodgerblue at the appropriate period in which it will be played.

The maximum hand size for Action Cards is seven. If a player exceeds this number at any time, they must immediately discard down to seven, even if they have more Action Cards to draw. In the latter case, the player may continue drawing cards after discarding down to seven.

A similar maximum hand size also exists for Political Cards at five. Unlike Action Cards, Political Cards may be spent as though they were a Trade Good at any time a Trade Good would normally be spent.

To aid in recordkeeping, and as a common courtesy, it is recommended that you list the number of Trade Goods, Action Cards, Political Cards, and Command Counter Allocation in bold limegreen after each of your actions. For example, at the start of the game, your status might look like this:

Public Objectives
[1 VP] I now spend 3 Command Counters from my Command and/or Strategy Allocation areas.: L1z1x, Creuss, Naalu, Muaat, Jol-Nar
[1 VP] I am blockading an opponent's Space Dock.: Jol-Nar, Muaat, L1z1x
[1 VP] I control planets with a total influence greater than the player to my immediate right and greater than the player to my immediate left.: Creuss, Yin, Jol-Nar
[1 VP] I control Mecatol Rex.: Creuss
[1 VP] I successfully invaded one planet containing at least 1 opposing Ground Force this turn.: Jol-Nar, L1z1x, Muaat
[1 VP] I now spend 4 Trade Goods, 3 resources, and 3 influence.: Creuss
[2 VP] I have 5 Technology Advances of the same color.: Jol-Nar, L1z1x
[2 VP] I successfully invaded two planets, each containing at least 1 opposing Ground Force, this turn.: Creuss, Muaat
[2 VP] I won two space battles this round in different systems and against at least 3 enemy ships.: Muaat
2 Stage II Objectives remain hidden.

Secret ObjectivesUniversities of Jol-Nar: 1 Secret ObjectiveThe Naalu Collective: 1 Secret ObjectiveThe L1z1x Mindnet: [2 VP] Threatening: I control systems adjacent to 2 different player's Home Systems.The Ghosts of Creuss: [2 VP] Master of Ships: I control Mecatol Rex, I have a Space Dock here, and at least 8 (non-Fighter) ships in the Mecatol Rex system.The Embers of Muaat: [2 VP] Conqueror: I control all the planets in another player’s Home System.The Yin Brotherhood: 2 Secret Objectives

Special Objectives
Corrupt Empire - The first player to attack Jol-Nar in Space Combat or Invasion Combat will gain 1 VP.: L1z1x

People interested in playing should indicate their interest by posting a message indicating such in bold limegreen. I'll close signups after 48 or 72 hours, depending on interest. I'll assign player order and races randomly, and if there are more than six people interested, I will put players into teams of up to two players each. If there are more than twelve players, then I'll randomly select twelve players for initial participation, with the remainder acting as reserves in case any active player drops out. Players also may request specific partners, or may request to play solo, to which I will fulfill as closely as possible.

Please also take note of the optional modules that will be employed in this game, as listed at the top of the opening post:

If the players wish to add any additional modules to the game, then please also indicate your interest. If there are enough requests, then I will update things to include them. In particular, I was considering adding Space Mines or Artifacts to the mix, as those seem fairly reasonable without being cumbersome.

I played (poorly) in the last game so being on a team or as a reserve would be great also.

He's a superhumanly strong soccer-playing romance novelist possessed of the uncanny powers of an insect. She's a beautiful African-American doctor with her own daytime radio talk show. They fight crime!

You'll find racial information in the opening post, in the Races and Special Abilities section. I have taken the liberty of placing your starting units in your home systems; the Jol-Nar and Naalu players should let me know if they wish to change their initial formations. Everyone will be receiving their initial cards and system tiles for building the map shortly.

Building the Map

Map building starts with the Jol-Nar, who will place a system from their hand into the inner ring (1-x hexes). Placement proceeds clockwise until the first ring is filled. Then, the second ring (2-x hexes) is filled through two rounds of placement, starting with the Yin and moving counter-clockwise to the Jol-Nar who will place two systems, then snaking back to the Yin. The outermost ring (3-x hexes) is filled in the same way. The following restrictions must be observed in map creation:

Each ring must be filled completely before moving on to the next, starting from the center and moving outwards.

Special systems with red borders may not be placed adjacent to one another.

If a player has placed a system containing no planets, then a system containing at least one planet must be placed on their next turn.

Should a player be unable to place a system according to these rules, their hand of systems is revealed so that they may place a system while breaking the normal rules.

Building starts with caliber and GrimmyTOA, you may place a system whenever you're ready.

All teams should now have their opening cards and systems for building the map. Systems with multiple worlds have the planet information separated by dashes. If a world has a technology bonus, it is listed after their resource and influence values.

its been a while since I played on here, I'll need the following clarifications:

Are we allowed to PM other players or is all communication outside our partners, forbidden.

Is it too late to vote on artifacts? My vote would definitely be yes if so. Space mines I don't care about.

Cruess' Flagship says something like "treat the destination system as if it has a D wormhole." Since I can activate any system on the map with a CC and move any ship to that destination tile that has appropriate movement, if the destination of my flagship is ... say anywhere on the board I want it to be, it would still be 1 distance away from my home system, which has a D wormhole.... Can I effectively use this ship to teleport anywhere on the board that I want to?

Also forgive me if I get confused on a few of the rules. I've been playing a lot of Shattered Ascension lately, so I'll have to switch gears back to rules as written!

Is it too late to vote on artifacts? My vote would definitely be yes if so. Space mines I don't care about.

If anybody else has an opinion on options, I will allow until the completion of the first ring of placements for people to come to an agreement. At this point, I do not plan on adding either of the options to the mix.

Cruess' Flagship says something like "treat the destination system as if it has a D wormhole." Since I can activate any system on the map with a CC and move any ship to that destination tile that has appropriate movement, if the destination of my flagship is ... say anywhere on the board I want it to be, it would still be 1 distance away from my home system, which has a D wormhole.... Can I effectively use this ship to teleport anywhere on the board that I want to?

No. In simplest terms, the Hil Colish cannot use its own wormhole for movement, but other Creuss ships are free to warp into the Hil Colish's location from the Creuss home system.

As a closing remark, if you are working in a team, I suggest leaving the original conversation thread I have sent you for status updates, and creating a new conversation for team strategy discussion. Don't forget to invite me to any further conversations!

Is it too late to vote on artifacts? My vote would definitely be yes if so. Space mines I don't care about.

If anybody else has an opinion on options, I will allow until the completion of the first ring of placements for people to come to an agreement. At this point, I do not plan on adding either of the options to the mix.

Actually, I take back my vote. We've already effectively started. Lets just keep the listed everything as is and not make set up any more cumbersome than it will already be!

And yah blarney, that is how I want to treat the flagship, but I can't find any "official ruling" or way of backing up that functionality with rules as written + faq, even though that is definitely the way I think the ship should work (the less broken way).

Basically here is a good overview of the races we have involved (with some bias towards how I usually play each race):

Jol-Nar is tech heavy. They have a lot of options available to them on how they want to play their race. They can go heavy into militaristic technology and be a formittable fighting force, or they can develop more turtle-ing technology and become a very hard force to penetrate. It should be noted thematically that the Jol-Nar once enslaved the Muatt. The muatt stole an unfinished version of the War Sun technology from the Jol-Nar and escaped back to their homeworld. The Jol-Nar are pretty much their most hated enemy. Jol-nar are basically fish people.

Naalu is a pretty militaristic race. Their unit of choice is usually fighters. They can really be a nuisance to deal with if they are left unchecked for too long. They are telepathic snake people.

L1Z1X is a very militaristic race. Their unit of choice is usually dreadnaughts. They are pretty much a direct descendant of the Lazax who used to rule the galaxy. They are pretty much the Borg.

Ghost of Creuss are a very interesting race. They are not corporeal, but instead made of smoke/gas, which they house in suits to give them a more corporeal form, so they can interact with the galactic counsel better. Not only are they militaristic, but they can strike all over the board, and keep supply lines open to reinforce forward bases almost anywhere on the board. Their power comes from access to wormholes, so be weary of any system adjacent to a system with a wormhole tile. It is pretty much fair game as a Creuss target. When you think of this race, think of them as basically the Protoss from StarCraft.

Muaat is a very powerful race. They are basically Sun People, who have to live in protective suits because their body temperatures are so high. They start out with a gimped war sun, which is the most powerful single unit in the game. They need to acquire 2 technologies before it is at its full force, and they can buff them even further with their racial technology.

Lastly, we have the Yin Brotherhood, who is pretty much the religious fanatics of the group. They are basically an awesome clone army! Expect cruisers and destroyers due to their racial ability, but this race can also see a lot of success in ground combat!

I hope this might help you guys get a better feel for what you are up against. In my opinion, no one here is unmatched, but Muaat, Creuss, and L1Z1X are your powerhouses. Followed very closely by Naalu. Naalu is one of the most powerful races in the game if left unchecked! Jol-Nar late game will basically have ALL THE TECHNOLOGY, so who knows what that will mean for them in how they play their game! Yin can do a lot with their suicide attacks! I enjoy playing nearly every race involved in this game. My personal least favorite is Muaat, because they get such a large target painted on them early game, because of their warsun!

Basically, with set up, you are looking to keep as many planets close to your sphere of influence as possible. Try to save your good planets for the locations right around your home world, as those 3 systems are the ones you can expect to hold for most, if not all of the game.

High resource values (the first number) are what you will use to produce units. The influence value will be the one that lets you vote on political cards. Do not neglect influence. Some of the political cards can literally be game changing! Some planets have technology colors on them. This will provide a discount when you go to buy a technology of that color.

Red boarded systems (supernovas, gravity rifts, asteroid belts, ion storms, nebulas) are either something to mess up other people's sphere's of influence (but can create early game enemies since that ends up being a pretty early game antagonistic action) or they can create borders with your neighbors. If you drop a supernova between the two of you, it is going to make traveling towards you harder than heading in the other direction where there are no red boarded systems.

Empty space is pretty much just that.. it does nothing. Try to keep these away from you unless you want to try to create a buffer between you and your neighbors. I often see a lot of these dumped around the inner ring. Just remember that if you place empty/red systems, the next thing you place has to be something with a planet.

Some planets have refresh abilities that give you shock troops/fighters/trade goods/ground forces on that system if you leave it unexhausted (don't use it that turn).

You also have wormholes. Because I am playing creuss, these can be very dangerous, but don't be too afraid of them. Just because a wormhole is close to you, does not mean that I will be attacking you. Don't forget your diplomatic lines of communication! Alliances are key in this game!

Sai Seravus paced around the bridge of the Hin Donism as the carrier’s scanners picked up a faint signal through the wormhole. The forward scout probes had detected the presence of unusual energy readings through the D gate.

The Shaleri anomaly has always been a mystery to the rest of the members of the Galactic Counsel. There have been numerous scouting missions and science teams sent by the other races to investigate what the Creuss refer to as The Nexus. Not a single ship would ever return to their point of origin though. The Creuss made sure of that. This area of space was shrouded in mystery and the other races learned to avoid this area over the years. They had seen no tangible proof of the Creuss’ existence. The rumors of the missing ships led to the rumor of the sector being inhabited by the Ghosts. The only explanation for the complete disappearance of anything passing through this stretch of the outer ring could be the existence of something ominous and perhaps dangerous inhabiting the region. That was all about to change.

______________________________________________________

Maulve piloted the retrofitted frigate Entropic with relative ease. The Mentak pirate had seen his fair share of missions as captain of the Entropic, but this mission would prove to be the most dangerous. He couldn’t remember the time that he was actually this nervous about a simple cargo run.

The trade route from Muaat to Null was a profitable one. The passage between the two worlds was long and cumbersome. It cut up towards Mecatol Rex from Muaat and back down towards Null. The trip took several months to complete at relativistic speeds, but the temptation to cut through the Ghost space was too great for many of the Mentak pirates who ran this trade route. Most of them did not live to see their cargo to safety, but the few who escaped passed on tales in whispers. It was almost as if they thought that speaking their rumors and delusions out loud would somehow give them power and make them real. Perhaps the Ghosts would somehow hear them from across the Sector and hunt them down for daring to cross through their space.

Maulve needed the money. If he could make this trip there and back in half the time, than he might be able to afford a new ship. The Entropic was a reliable ship and it had never let Maulve down, but it was showing its age. It did not have many trips left in it before it would need to get scrapped. Maulve needed this big break and he decided to go for it. He would be lost without a ship.

The engines on the Entropic fired to full power as the frigate entered space that Maulve had never before dared to venture. But he wouldn’t get very far. As he approached the Shaleri Anomaly, his instrument panel starting going haywire. The Entropic was detecting insanely high energy levels emanating from the Anomaly itself.

All of a sudden, a huge carrier, escorted by two destroyers materialized into space right in front of Maulve. As he watched the events unfold on this tactical screen in front of him, he worried that today would be his last day and that he would never live to see tomorrow.

The ships in front of him were covered in strange runes and were massive in size. Maulve had never seen anything like this before. The designation on the carrier was unfamiliar and the destroyers bore the same marking.

Maulve had no time to run. Where would he go anyway? He was facing the ships dead on and there didn’t seem to be any escape. The latent energy field created by the Ghost ships was causing all of Maulve’s equipment to malfunction. Just as all hope seemed to be lost, a hailing frequency was sent to the Entropic.

The blood drained out of Maulve’s face as he read the read out from his screen to himself. The message on the screen display was

They aren't actually in that system. They're hovering off the edge of the map (in ghost-space or something). They can enter through the Creuss gate (at 6 o'clock) or, I believe, through any other wormhole.

The Councillor – its meat-name had long ago been deleted from the archives – shifted a small portion of its considerable attention away from its calculations to acknowledge and examine the notification. Dreadnaught Prime had intercepted a smuggler frigate on the edge of the 0.0.0. system, and its crew was being questioned. The Councillor opened a remote link to the Prime and assumed control of the drone that had been designated First Interrogator. Now seeing through the drone’s cybernetic eyes and controlling its body, the Councillor turned its attention to the subject who lay strapped to an examination table.

95% probability that you are Mentak, the Councillor said in the drone’s heavily-modulated voice, Confirm.

"W-what?" The subject stared back without understanding.

The Councillor redirected more of its attention to the task at hand, feeling a microscopic tug of what long ago would have been called irritation.

Rephrasing: You are Mentak, are you not?

"Yes – yes, I am." Finally they were getting somewhere. The Councillor could scarcely believe that it had taken 6.6 seconds to get such rudimentary data. Time lost forever.

Irrelevant, the Councillor interrupted. Your ship’s logs indicate that you were recently in the vicinity of the Shaleri Anomaly and that you encountered vessels of unknown design and origin. Explain.

"Sir, it weren’t my fault, I was just trying to save some tiii-AAAH!"

The Councillor waited for the immediate effects of the nerve staple to subside. It was 23 seconds before the subject ceased screaming, and another 30 before it was able to speak again.

"Sir, it were the Ghosts. The Ghosts, I tell ya!" Maulve gasped.

Explain.

"Ghosts, sir! Creatures of smoke of shadow! They’ve been swallowing up ships for thousands of years, and now they’re coming for us!"

There was a short pause as the Councillor considered this.

Your data has been added to the collective, it said by way of thanking Maulve.

Then it applied three more nerve staples and gave the order to assimilate the Mentak.

Now disconnected from the drone, the Councillor considered what it had learned, and reviewed the captured ships’ logs. It accessed long-dormant segments of the archives and examined files that had not been opened for over a thousand cycles. At last, it came to a conclusion:

The Creuss were finally leaving the safety of their sub-space home ... and they were doing it 143 cycles sooner than the L1Z1X had estimated.

Were it given to cliche, the Councillor might have thought This changes everything! But of course it didn't.

Instead, it communicated its findings to the Overmind. There was work to do.

They aren't actually in that system. They're hovering off the edge of the map (in ghost-space or something). They can enter through the Creuss gate (at 6 o'clock) or, I believe, through any other wormhole.

To clarify, the Creuss racial ability connecting wormholes of different types only applies to the "A" and "B" wormholes. Under ordinary circumstances, the only way in or out of the Creuss Home System is through the Creuss Gate and the "D" Wormhole.